


Project 7

by Christhewitch



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: (s), Amnesia, Anti-Heroes, Do they suffer? Yes they do, Forced Experimentation, Gen, Morally Ambiguous Character, My children all need hugs, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Project Cadmus, Science Experiments, The Light, The Light sucks, season one crew
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-02-02 15:58:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12729699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Christhewitch/pseuds/Christhewitch
Summary: Following the announcement of the official adoption of Richard Grayson, the boy tragically dies due to a deadly attack from an unknown enemy. With the Dark Knight, GCPD, and Justice League hunting for clues and leads to no avail, the case of the Grayson murder is forced to close, the killer never found and murder never brought to justice. A year later, the League and their new covert team have a hard time deciding if a young, mysterious vigilante is an enemy or an ally, no matter how oddly familiar he might be...Set during Season One.





	1. 14

**Author's Note:**

> Why add a new project to my already large pile of not-finished projects? I have no self control, that's why. Will I ever learn? No, probably not.
> 
> Some notes before we start:
> 
> Richard Grayson died at the age of 12 here, close to the age of 13, and the fic takes place roughly a year later. More details about his murder and how it affected everyone in the story itself.
> 
> Characters from Teen Titans and other DC comics will appear, mostly because there will be another team, per se, on here and I'm not a fan of heaps of OCs in fics, so...yeah. But mostly Titans, with possibly Jason Todd.
> 
> There are still possible paths I could take with this that I'm unsure of, so I might add a few questions at the beginning or end of chapters for you guys to answer every now and then, so keep your eye out.
> 
> Will mostly follow Season One, but with twists, of course
> 
> And last but not least...I don't own Young Justice or anything else DC related.
> 
> Warnings: Violence, blood, cursing, mentions of torture and child abuse

**Gotham City**

**June 29**

 

The only source of light in the dark alley was the dim glow of a streetlamp.

He had sat there, in a low crouching position, for about an hour waiting for his target, who had entered a bar sometime around when the boy first started following him. He had yet to leave, probably downing every drink available or finding a cheap hookup; what _else_ can someone do at a shady, cramped bar that looked just about ready to collapse from age?

Besides maybe business. The man certainly wasn't better than that.

The back door opened, and his target walked out, wearing a dark trench coat and equally dark clothes underneath. He kept his head low, as if trying to slink into the shadows, which might have worked were it not for the too loud tapping of his shoes on the pavement.

Yep, definitely _business._ No one would look that guilty or sober coming out of a bar if they came for binge drinking or finding a date.

The boy waited five seconds, when no one else exited from the door, to rise from his position on the roof of an adjacent building and swiftly jump to the ground.

The man halted his steps upon hearing the noise, and turned back to face wherever the landing sound came from. Only shadows met his stare.

Clearly startled, his eyes scanned every visible area of the alley, his hand slyly reaching for the waistband of his jeans under the coat. A glint of light reflected off his belt line from the streetlamp: a silver handgun barely concealed in its holster.

The boy grinned. As if that would stop him.

The other occupant of the alley critically eyed wherever he could see one last time, before deciding no one was around and slowly taking his hand off his gun.

That's when the cackling started.

He twisted around again, and again when he still saw no one. This time, he wasted no time in taking his gun out and pointing it in all directions. “Show yourself!” he shouted into the midnight air.

Finally, the boy stepped out into the dim light.

The man whirled around towards him, barrel pointed straight at his head. He took in the younger's appearance, the black hoodie with the hood pulled up, dark pants, gloves, and the mask that covered half of his face.

“Who are you?” the man all but barked, taking a step closer to the boy.

Heh, as if that would scare him.

He just cocked his head to the side, the tips of his lips perking up. “You don't remember me?” he asked coyly. “What a shame—I guess I'll just have to remind you.”

“Look, kid, I don't know what you're talking about, but you better—” He cut himself off when the teenager reached up and peeled the mask off his face. The kid grinned as he watched the horror settle in the man's face.

“It sure has been awhile, hasn't it, Matthews?” the kid mused, a small chuckle in his voice. It only intensified when he noticed the gun waver in the other's shaking hand. “I guess you thought you wouldn't see me again. Sorry to disappoint.”

“Kid,” Matthews started, eyes darting for any available exit (a useless effort), “look, we can settle this, can't we? No need to follow me in the middle of the night—”

“They told you, didn't they?” the boy continued, stalking closer to his prey. His grin widened when the other took steps back. “That's why you're so scared right now, you know what I'm here to do."

A pause.

“Please,” the man pressed. “I—I didn't have a choice, I never wanted—”

“Pathetic,” the teenager hummed. “Resorting to begging? And lying?” he began stepping around the man in a taunting circle: a wolf circling a sheep. “Doesn't matter—You know what I came here for, and you know I won't fail.”

A tense silence surrounded the pair. They stared each other down, one's eyes holding cockiness and the other's trepidation. For a moment, no sounds could be heard, not even the man's shuttering breath or the whistling summer wind. Nothing. It all ended when Matthews pulled the trigger and the gunshot rang.

The boy had already jumped out of the way with a grace only he possessed. Swiftly and quietly, before the man could even cry out in shock, the other dove forward and buried a knife in his throat.

Wide, brown eyes found the boys', surprise and despair filling the chocolate gaze as he stumbled back towards the brick wall. When the attacker pulled the knife out of his victim's neck, the youngest watched the spurts of blood trickle down onto his gloved fingers that pushed down onto the man's chest. Crimson dripped from the victim's now parted lips, still trying and failing to get in air through the pain. Only gurgling sounds came out, drops of blood flying from his mouth during particularly loud ones. Some of them landed on the boys face, but he couldn't find himself to care. Not when all he thought about for months was the chance to feel the man's life drift away.

He finally got what he wanted.

When the boy could tell the man was only seconds away from death, slouched on the wall with his eyes drifting shut every few seconds, he leaned over and put his lips next to Matthews' ear.

“You're the reason I'm like this, Matthews, like it or not. You dug this grave yourself.”

He pulled back, the man's glazed stare blinking up at him. He was probably too out of it to understand what the youngest said, but that didn't matter.

All that mattered was the message.

When the last drop of his life drifted away, his wide, blank eyes staring at nothing, neck and head up against the wall at an abnormal angle, the boy reached into the pocket of his hoodie and pulled out his message. A small, thin slip of paper that said everything.

He reached down to the corpse's hand, bloodied from trying to stop the blood leaking from his neck only moments ago, and curled its fingers around the paper.

Mission complete, he simply put his mask back on and stalked silently out of the alley. He was out of sight in a matter of seconds.

The message was sent.

 

* * *

 

“Commissioner.”

Batman watched as Gordon jumped slightly before turning around. “Still doing that, I see.”

The vigilante didn't reply, just looked past the other man at the crime scene. “A murder situation?” he asked gruffly.

“Yes, a gruesome one at that,” the Commissioner sighed, stepping out of the way for the Bat to advance forward. “His license said he was Preston Matthews. He was found here about fifteen minutes ago.”

The body looked...grisly, to say the least. A knife wound right at the throat, with dried blood caked around his entire pale neck, shirt, coat collar, and hands, and even more on his lips and chin. The corpse was slouched against the wall, messy brown hair pressed against the brick, head at an odd angle with brown eyes wide open and staring lifelessly ahead at nothing.

“And the murderer wasn't found?” Batman questioned as Gordon walked over to his side.

“No, and we have no leads so far—”

“Then why call me in?”

Gordon shifted nervously. “Right, sorry. When searching his body, my men and I found this in his hand,” he pulled out a small, plastic bag from his coat pocket and handed it to the masked vigilante. Inside was a small slip of paper, flicked with dried crimson, with a number written in black ink.

_14_

“Normally, I wouldn't have called you in for something like this but...there was another murder across town, which we predict happened around the same time as this one. A piece of paper with the number eight written on it was in his hand,” Gordon explained. “And as such—”

“You believe the murders are connected, somehow.”

“Well, yes.”

The Bat studied the bag and the slip of paper in it for a few more seconds then handed it back. “I'll look into it. The other victim?”

“Jared Farrison. We should be running his name through the system right now, so I should get a call any minute—” he stopped when he looked to the side and realized Batman had vanished.

He sighed. “You'd think I'd be used to this by now...”

 

* * *

 

By the time he returned to the cave, it was well past two in the morning, nearly three. Still ever persistent and stubborn, however, Batman refused to retire for the night no matter how exhausted he was. No, instead of changing and heading upstairs, he only pushed back his cowl and stalked over to the computers. The sooner he found information about the murders Gordon talked about, the sooner he would know why Preston Matthews sounded so familiar.

“I expect patrol went well, Master Bruce?” a familiar voice asked.

Bruce Wayne didn't even bother looking away from the screen, typing away until he found the page he needed. “I thought you'd be asleep by now, Alfred.”

“Normally yes, sir, but you stayed out awfully later than normal tonight, even for your schedule.”

_I'm worried about you_ , was left unsaid, but still implied all the same.  _You know what's coming up soon. You know why you're acting like this._

“Gordon signaled, showed me a murder victim and explained the case. I'm working on it right now,” Bruce replied, eyes still glued to the screen. His heavy voice said it all, though: _Another person I was too late to save._

Alfred stepped closer to his charge and glanced at what was occupying his attention on the screen. “Preston Matthews?”

“The victim. He worked reception downstairs at Wayne Enterprises,” Bruce said. “Explains why he seemed so familiar.”

“Did you ever talk to him, sir?”

“When he first started working, and maybe a few times since, but he quit a few months ago. Says he didn't have another one since, but...it says here that apparently he rented an apartment in New York only a week ago, he probably planned on moving there soon.”

A few moments of silence passed, one person typing away and looking up another man under the name of Jared Farrison, and the other silently watching.

“I suggest you go to bed, Master Bruce,” the butler broke the silence. “You can continue researching tomorrow. Dare I remind you that you have a meeting tomorrow—or rather _today_ —at ten?”

“I will when I'm finished, Alfred,” was Bruce's terse reply.

Another minute of silence. The butler opened his mouth, as if to say something, but closed it. His charge was on edge already, adding salt to the wound would just make it worse.

“Very well then, sir. I shall be upstairs if you need me.”

There were a million things the butler wanted to say. _He wouldn't have wanted this. He would want you to move on. You have to let it go. This isn't helping you._ But all he could do was shake his head to himself and leave without another word.

There was once a small light of joy in the large, nearly empty manor and cave. One that would make Bruce smile and obsess over cases less and actually _talk_ to people other than just grumble and hunch over files for hours on end.

Alfred stared down at his charge, still reading away, probably not planning on sleeping tonight at all, and sighed. That joy he had—they _both_ had—was gone now.

 


	2. Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited the fic so far! I honestly did not expect that much feedback so soon.
> 
> A reviewer asked if Kid Flash and Speedy know about Robin's civilian identity. Sticking to my original idea, yes, they do. I considered changing it, but it's actually a major plot point, one that I have no idea how to work my way around. So for now, I'm keeping it that way.
> 
> Quick question, any ships or pairings anyone wants to see happen? If not, then the fic will roughly follow canon. Or there won't be any ships at all. Still deciding.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

**Watchtower**

**July 1**

 

“So, the plan for Independence Day is nearing,” Wonder Woman said, after the discussions of last week's enemies and foiled plots passed. “Is everything ready?”

“Should be,” Flash waved dismissively. “C'mon, all we're doing is showing them the Hall. Not like we're bringing them here. Not much planning to do.”

The Amazon raised a brow. “So you're saying Kid Flash _isn't_ excited?”

“What? No, of _course_ he's excited,” he replied quickly. “He's been talking about it for _weeks_. Hasn't shut up about it.”

Superman chuckled. “I can believe that. Green Arrow? Aquaman? How about Speedy and Aqualad? Are they ready?”

“Like Flash said, not much to be ready for,” Green Arrow said, somewhat tersely. “I still don't see why the kids can't just take a tour up here—”

A chorus of “no”s cut him off. The archer sighed and shook his head, but said nothing else.

Amicable conversations soon came, mostly coming from the mentors of the League. They laughed every now and then, talking about what all their protégés had said and how excited each of them were. J'onn even mentioned his niece, who just came to Earth recently, and said how he might introduce her to the League and the Hall of Justice too.

As their discussion went on—Flash was currently mentioning something about Kid Flash wondering if he should get a _haircut_ , of all things, before Independence Day—Diana let her eyes wander over to the Dark Knight.

He was broody—broodier than usual, and she couldn't blame him.

Lips set in a thin line, he stared straight ahead, and she could _almost_ see some sort of sorrow behind the whites of his lenses. Throughout the duration of the meeting, he contributed little to no comments, and only those who knew him best could read his slightly slouched shoulders and slacked stance.

The anniversary was coming up. And here were Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and even Martian Manhunter, discussing their protégés freely and happily, as if Batman wasn't even in the room, and...

Robin would have loved the plan. Sure, he had already seen the Watchtower—had practically been _raised_ on it. But having the chance to go to the Hall of Justice with his closest friends, and officially take the first steps towards getting formally introduced to the Justice League...he would have taken it up in a second. Would have fretted about it and talked about it for weeks, just like Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Speedy.

Just as Wonder Woman prepared to turn around and snap the mentors out of their conversation, or bring up a new topic, the Dark Knight stood up abruptly, bringing all attention to him. “I have a case that requires my attention in Gotham,” was his only explanation as he left.

A beat of silence followed.

“Aww man,” Flash muttered, realization finally dawning on him, “I can't believe we forgot...” He buried his head in his hands.

Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter exchanged similar responses, each looking equally as guilty.

“...it's coming up, isn't it?” Green Arrow asked solemnly.

A chorus of nods and hums in affirmations came from several members. Some of them, like Captain Marvel and Zatara, who didn't know the man behind the mask, blinked confusedly.

“What's coming up?” Hal whispered to the other Lantern. John shrugged in response.

From there, the meeting ended. The heroes dispersed, several going home or to finish patrol in their own cities. Eventually, only Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary were the only ones still seated. Their next topic of discussion was clear.

“Did you _really_ have to talk about how excited they are when he was in the room?” Diana asked tiredly.

“You were the one who brought it up!” Oliver argued, hands raised. Dinah shot him a glare, and he quickly lowered his hands.

Well, he did have a point. In her defense, she had only meant to ask if the kids were ready, not have some ongoing talk that would no doubt upset Bruce.

“...the kid would've loved it, wouldn't he?” Superman mumbled.

Wonder Woman frowned. Yes, he would have. They all knew he would have.

“Is Bruce okay?” Flash asked worriedly. “I mean, he doesn't talk to me about his problems. So is he holding up alright?”

“As alright as he can be, I imagine,” Dinah replied.

“Are you sure he should be included in the plan for Independence Day?” Flash continued. “I mean, it's probably painful enough for him as it is. Bringing him in and having to watch...I don't know, I feel like it's rubbing salt in the wound.”

“He practically demanded to go, there's no stopping him,” Superman said.

Barry sighed, slouching back in his chair. He shook his head and said, quietly, “how can he stand it? I...if it were Wally, I don't think I'd be able to stand any of this.”

“This is Batman we are talking about,” Aquaman said. “His coping methods, his grief, it is different from everyone else.”

“But with the anniversary so close...” Barry trailed off. Batman was always a walking mystery, quiet, stern, and brooding. With the one year mark only a matter of weeks ahead, no one could find it in them to blame the Bat for being even _more_ withdrawn than normal.

Black Canary shook her head. “You can certainly try, Flash, but I think we all know that it's a lost cause.”

A small silence fell over the group. Each member wore contemplative and mournful looks, each wanting nothing more than to help make things better, and knowing they could do nothing. Batman was closed off and would never willingly accept help from them, especially over something like this. At this point, the only possible hope the man had was his butler. And even then, Batman still might still drown in his sorrows and losses.

“...I miss that kid,” Green Arrow confessed in a whisper.

No other words left the lips of the Leaguers, but all their thoughts were similar. So did they.

 

* * *

 

**Star City**

 

Kid Flash glared at the archer by his side. “Are you _sure_ we won't get caught?”

“Oh please,” Speedy waved his hand, “GA won't be back for a few more hours. He's got monitor duty, or something like that.”

“If you're sure...” the speedster said. He swept his gaze over the alleyway the two traveled through. He had been in Star City a number of times before, mainly to hang out with Roy or deal with the occasional Central villain that somehow ended up in the archers' territory, but he still wasn't familiar enough with it. Heroes were territorial, and normally Green Arrow refused to let anyone fight his villains in the city. Not that he minded much. Central was familiar; he knew the streets, the enemies, and the layout by heart. Star, however...

“Does GA normally let you patrol alone?” the younger asked. So far, the two had yet to spot any crimes going down. Maybe no criminal activity would happen, and the two could go back to Queen's manor and play some GTA. That's what he _wanted_ to do during the sleepover, anyway.

“Sometimes. Not a lot, though. Which is why I didn't tell him we were going out tonight.”

“You _what_?”

“Relax, Kid,” Speedy reassured his friend, a grin on his face. “The major villains shouldn't be roaming tonight. Besides, not like we're in Gotham or anything.”

“I guess.” KF followed as the archer turned towards another street. “You ready for the fourth?” he asked excitedly.

The oldest grinned. “Definitely. This is my first step towards joining the League.”

The speedster sputtered, wide eyes landing on his friend. “Joining the League? I thought we were just getting officially introduced, or whatever.”

“For _you,_ maybe,” Speedy shrugged. “ _I_ , however, am eighteen. I should be able to join at this point.”

“Damn,” Kid Flash muttered. “So while you join the League, what are Aqualad and I supposed to do? Make Speedy merchandise? I bet you'd love seeing your face plastered on a t-shirt.”

“As long as you don't get my bad side.”

The speedster snorted. The pair continued on in silence for a little bit, too busy examining the alley for any possible threat. When nothing out of the ordinary met their eyes, they slightly relaxed and turned towards another street. Kid Flash fished for conversation topics in his head (the League again? Villains? Food? Oh man, Wally was _starving_ ), but couldn't think of anything interesting. It made sense however, walking quietly in the dark, for his mind to wander where it shouldn't. Not anymore, at least.

Robin always pulled out conversation topics with ease. The three of them together, sneaking out from the League and their mentors to do something undoubtedly stupid, always had something to talk about. They would laugh and talk with ease for hours on end. It has always been when Wally was the happiest—besides patrolling with his uncle.

Now their trio was down to two.

Kid Flash swallowed hard. Not now. Not with Speedy right next to him. Not when the wound still hadn't healed yet.

(If it ever healed.)

“You're awfully quiet,” Roy murmured, almost like he didn't want to break the fragile silence. “What's on your mind?”

They both knew that they were thinking the same thing. And they both knew that weren't going to say it out loud. Not now, anyway. Maybe when patrol was over, when they would retire to Roy's. They could talk in peace there.

“Nothin',” the speedster decided to say. He cleared his throat and changed the subject “So, how much crime do you normally have in this city? It seems pretty dead—”

A scream and gunshots cut him off.

They both froze. The pair snapped their attention towards where the sound came from.

The pair of sidekicks shared a glance and nodded. Then, in a blink of an eye, the youngest one bolted away, the other following behind as fast as he could.

Kid Flash zoomed past the emergency vehicles, and kept going until he saw the source of the commotion.

A group of teenagers who couldn't be older than sixteen or seventeen were gathered together, panic etched on their faces. He came to a screeching stop when he noticed a pair of dead bodied on ground in front of them.

Wally had seen corpses before, and he'd seen people die. Not often, that's for sure. He had a sneaking suspicion that Flash would purposefully leave him behind when anything to do with murder popped up in the city. And, well...he didn't really mind. He loved doing hero work, but dealing with the heavy stuff...not his forte.

So he took a full second to stare, wide eyed, at the two, darkly dressed men that stared lifelessly up at the starless sky.

“Contact the police,” a voice— _Speedy's—_ broke him out of his stupor. The speedster turned around to face the archer and catch a comm link thrown his way. “Tell them what happened.”

Speedy's voice, calm and commanding, reminded him that he, too, was the _hero_ in this situation. He needed to pull himself together, get the job done, and not let himself freak out so easily.

Kid Flash nodded and stepped away from the small group to contact the SCPD. Speedy took the moment to turn towards the four teenagers—two girls and two boys—and examine them. “Is anybody hurt?”

They all shook their heads. “No,” of one the girls said shakily. The other girl reached out and grabbed her friend's hand reassuringly.

“These men,” the archer gestured to the dead bodies, “did you know them?”

“No,” the same girl continued. “We—we had just left the movies and they jumped us. They threatened to kill us i—if we didn't give them our money.” She sniffed and wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

He blinked. By the way they looked distressed, he assumed they knew the men—no matter how shady they looked in all black. There was no way, though, that they had shot the two, so...

“Then who did this?” he asked.

“We don't know,” one of the boys said this time. If the girl he talked to earlier seemed anxious and scared, this boy looked full-blown terrified. “When _Kaitlyn_ told them to shove it,” he threw a glare at the other girl, who scowled his way, “they looked like they were about to shoot us. And—and then two people showed up and shot them.”

Speedy blinked. “Did you get a good look at them?”

“We were too busy, getting, you know, fucking _shot at_ ,” one of the girls—Kaitlyn—hissed.

The other girl gently nudged her friend. “N-no. It was dark. And they were wearing dark clothes, too. I think. They ran off as soon as they came.”

“They're on their way,” Kid Flash announced, making his way back to the group.

Speedy nodded, staring down at the pair of fallen bodies. Yes, they were awful people for threatening to kill defenseless teenagers, but to _kill_ the men? They should have been brought to justice a different way.

But he knew that him and Kid Flash would have never made it to them on time. And so if it weren't for that mysterious duo...

The distant sound of sirens could be heard. The archer shook his head. He would tell the police and Green Arrow about it later. Right now, he needed to devote his time to making sure the group in front of him went home safely.

And so no one noticed the two teenagers, dressed in hoodies and masks, stare down at the scene from the top of a roof. They watched wordlessly as the police raced down the street and make it to the small group of teenage civilians and the pair of sidekicks.

The taller of the two reached up and pushed the comm on his ear. “Eight to Fourteen. We're finished.”

“ _Sounds good,”_ a voice came back. _“We should all be at the hideout by four pm. Think you'll make it in time?”_

“Yeah. Besides,” he glanced down at his friend, who returned the stare, “Five and I found something worth hearing.”

“ _Really?”_ Fourteen asked.

Five pulled on Eight's sleeve. He looked down at her again, and she pointed at the brightly-colored heroes on the ground, leaving the cops and teenagers to most likely head their way. No doubt looking for the killers, then. He nodded at her, and they both stepped away from the edge of the roof before Speedy or Kid Flash could notice them.

“Tell One,” he said, “that his suspicions about Speedy are correct."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens.
> 
> I wonder if the numbers match any in the first chapter....hmm....
> 
> Just thought you should know that leaving reviews are greatly appreciated and normally motivates me to update faster!


	3. Underground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who’s back!
> 
> I would like to apologize for the longer than anticipated break I had from this fic…ahaha. It’s my last sem of high school and I’ve mainly been focusing on scholarships and my incredibly difficult classes (which I still don’t know why I bother taking them lol). I’ll try not to take too long of breaks anymore (I try to aim for an update a month, if not more) but no promises. Sorry!

**Jump City**

**July 2**

 

Under the bright sun, the summer air teetered on the edge of unbearable heat. The young teenager, dressed in a hoodie and a pair of jeans, glared at nothing and wondered why he decided to wear such heavy clothes in _this_ weather. 

He sighed and adjusted the shades on the bridge of his nose. He ignored the surrounding people littering about the streets, all with ragged clothing and hats pulled down to cover eyes.

“Are you sure about this?” his friend asked, adjusting one of the strings on her hoodie and frowning. “I hate the outfits, by the way. Why do we have to wear these again?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Besides, everyone thinks we’re a pretty scary duo,” he sent her a grin, which she quirked her brows questioningly to, but the tip of her lips curved nonetheless. “As for the clothes, what? Want to become our own personal stylist?” 

He could practically feel the glare thrown his way, despite the glasses covering her eyes. “I hate hoodies. They’re heavy, and I can’t move as freely.”

“I hear ya. Well, not like we need a solid uniform anyway. But we still need to find a material that protects us more.”

She hummed flatly. “Maybe we’ll find that out here, too.”

“If we’re lucky,” he replied. His eyes fell on a rundown bar at the end of the block, where bikers and gang members sat and leaned against the wall smoking and drinking. “There’s our stop.” 

The girl groaned. “You’re doing all the talking. And I still don’t see why we were sent. Why not One? Or Six? They’re older, probably.” 

“I’d like to think it’s because we’re very deceiving looks-wise.”

They both immediately quieted when they neared the bar. The surrounding thugs outside paused their conversations to stare at them. He hardened his face, and he knew she did the same without looking.

“What are those kids doing here?” one rough-looking woman with spiked pink hair murmured to someone next to her.

They didn’t spare her, or anyone next to her, a glance. The thugs could say what they want about the duo. Although young, small, and thin, they had faced another person together before. Someone who met a bitter end.

And they could do it again.

The two entered the reeking bar, which looked old and just about ready to fall into itself. No words exchanged, they didn’t go deeper into the floor they saw, filled with a handful of drunks, two pool tables, cramped seats, and spilled ale. Instead, they immediately turned to the stairwell to the right of the front door that was half-hidden behind a door hanging off its hinges.

More murmurs were heard from the people outside, who watched the pair enter. “They know about downstairs?” “Who the hell are those brats?”

The voices faded the farther down they went. And in their place, loud shouts, gruff laughter, and the whispers of under-the-table business deals could be heard.

The bottom level, although not elegant, looked much more stable and well put together than the upper floor. Completed with an extensive bar, multiple tables, and a large enough space to keep everyone from being cramped together, the people inside all either gathered together or kept to themselves, each individual looking radically different than the last. The bartender, a large, six-foot-something man with muscles that could probably crush just about anybody, stayed behind the counter and pulled drinks off the shelves without even looking to make drinks for whoever lingered at the barstools.

As he poured a concoction into someone’s awaiting glass, he glanced at the entrance to spot the pair walking in. He cocked a brow in question, until recognition finally bloomed on his features and he gave the vaguest of nods. They returned to gesture and advanced farther in.

The place had awful lighting, and there appeared to be blood stains on the floor. Some of the occupants inside even had guns or knives strapped on their bodies. But what else did he expect from the criminal underground of Jump City?

When the two walked up to the bar, the bartender immediately gestured for them to sit at two available stools at the very right. They ignored the few glances thrown their way in question as they sat.

“You want anything?” he asked while he handed a drink to someone. When they both shook their heads, he chuckled briefly. “Should have guessed. How old are the both of you, anyway? Eight?”

They shot him a dirty look behind their shades. “Old enough to take this entire building down,” the girl muttered darkly.

The man threw his hands in their air. “Oh trust me, I know you can. You kids have proven yourself more than probably half of the people in this pub.”

One of the people sitting at the stools gave an outraged shout to that. The bartender just ignored whoever it was.

“So, what brings you here today? Looking for another gig?” he asked.

“Not today,” the boy answered. His eyes did a quick sweep through of the floor. “We have questions. And every villain in Jump knows who has all the answers.”

The bartender chuckled. “What’s in it for me?”

“We don’t blow your bar up?” the girl deadpanned.

Another laugh. “That’s the spunk I like. How about you or another one of your friends do a job for me tomorrow?”

The two exchanged glances before nodding. “Fine,” the boy spoke. “Now, ever heard of Cadmus?”

A grin came from the man. “What do you want to know?”

 

* * *

 

 

**Central City**

Barry Allen had seen plenty during his time as a speedster superhero. All the way from close-to-the-end-of-the-world experiences to _“woah, my nephew purposefully recreated the experiment to gain speed”_ moments, and of course everything in between. Not much scared him these days. The only exceptions to that rule were a very pissed off Bat, and a shaken up Wally, which by default made Barry _very_ shaken up.

Lucky or unlucky for him, this time he was scared because of Wally.

And as soon as Wally spilled why the first chance he got after seeing his uncle, Barry called Oliver.

Which lead to where they were now, both in the Allen household’s dining room table, Iris at work and Wally with his parents.

“You let them patrol _alone_?” Barry asked incredulously.

Oliver huffed. “For the fifth time, I didn’t _know_ Roy was going on patrol, and I definitely didn’t know that he would take Wally with him. I didn’t even know until I got back in the middle of the night and Roy told me himself.”

“Well why didn’t you tell me as soon as you found out?” Barry pressed. “I would have gone to Star in a heartbeat. I could have helped you track down whoever the hell did that.”

“ _Because_ , Barry,” Oliver sighed tiredly, “Wally was fast asleep and he didn’t seem too bothered. I thought he was fine—”

“Of course he wasn’t fine! I don’t take him along for those types of calls for a reason!”

“— _And_ no offense, but you wouldn’t have been much help. Whoever the killers were, they were long gone by the time I got back. In fact, if Roy _wasn’t_ there, things could have gone a lot worse.”

Barry sighed irritably and slouched back in his chair. A total of five seconds passed, both men looking just about anywhere but each other and refusing to say anything. Finally. Barry broke the silence.

“Look, I just want to make sure Wally’s okay. It’s not often he’s shaken up like that and I want him to be safe.”

Oliver nodded. “I’m sorry. Y’know, for not saying anything, “ he admitted.

“You’re forgiven, I guess,” Barry joked lightly, hoping to relieve the tension. Judging from the slight chuckle from Oliver, it worked. But the man straightened out his expression again, as if preparing for a serious discussion.

“I know I should have told you, not only for Wally’s sake but for the case, too. But well…Roy and I found a murder victim a few days ago, and we’ve both just been on alert since then. I didn’t mean for Wally to get dragged in. And that’s as serious as I’m gonna get, so you better appreciate it.”

Barry chucked at that. “Thanks, Oliver. Can we just make sure it won’t happen again?”

“With _those_ two?” Oliver asked incredulously. “Doesn’t matter what we say. They’re both still gonna run off and do something dumb.”

That was true. No matter what Oliver or Barry said to the protégés ( _“stay put.” “don’t follow us.” “for God’s sake, you can’t run to Canada every time you’re craving pancakes.”_ ) they liked to run off and do whatever they wanted and chose to suffer the consequences later.

Of course, it used to be a lot worse…

Barry smiled, a little sadly, to himself when he remembered one time Robin, Kid Flash, and Speedy all somehow managed to sneak in green hair dye into Oliver’s shampoo bottle, which of course resulted in an angry Green Arrow with lime colored hair that lasted about three weeks. When asked how the three did it, Wally admitted to sneaking the dye in himself, Roy distracted Oliver and kept him away from the house, and Dick…Dick hacked through Oliver’s security system and put all the security footage in a loop. Barry scolded Wally when Oliver was present then high-fived him when the archer turned his back, the victim himself yelled at Roy—who only laughed and snuck in pictures every now and then—and Bruce, much to the surprise of everyone in the League, congratulated Dick for his skills and scolded Oliver for “having awful security,” as he put it. Since then, Green Arrow made it a point to use only the best technology for his household security.

Robin still hacked it anyway. He had been staying the night at Barry’s house with Wally when he admitted to having already cracked Oliver’s system. Instead of planning another prank, however, the boy said he would keep the information to himself until he came up with the perfect plan.

He never did.

Barry frowned. He had always been somewhat protective of Wally. Not to the point of keeping a tracker on him, but enough to where Barry had to hear from the teenager at least once a day to ease his mind. But that protectiveness heightened about a year ago, after…the _incident_. Now, if Wally did something even _remotely_ out of character, Barry fussed for hours and hours on end.

He knew Oliver was the same about Roy now. And Bruce…

Barry couldn’t even image what Bruce was going through.

“You shouldn’t be thinking about it,” Oliver said, even though his thoughts obviously drifted to the same area. “Wally didn’t get hurt. Everything’s fine.”

Barry knew that. He really did.

But Barry would always worry.

 

* * *

 

**Jump City**

The sun began to set by the time pair made it back to the hideout. The creaking door alerted everyone of their entrance, and by the time the both of them made it to the main room with the door shut behind them, two of their friends emerged from the hallway. Everyone else rather didn’t care or had something else to do, Fourteen supposed.

“Found out anything?” Six, a tall, dark-skinned teenager, asked, leaning against the frame leading to a spare room.

“Plenty,” Ten replied, taking off her hoodie and shades. Fourteen followed suit. “I hope someone is willing to do a gig tomorrow. We needed him to give us information somehow.”

“Ooh, I’ll do it,” a third voice piped up. Nineteen walked out from the loft, nudging the boy that leaned against the room’s frame. “I’m bored as hell. I’ll do anything at this point,” she continued.

The oldest in the room (well, _possibly_ the oldest) nodded. “So, what do we need to know? Should I make a plan?” he asked.

Internally, Fourteen rolled his eyes. None of them knew their ages, and technically, all of them were perfectly smart and capable on their own. For some reason, though, One assumed that he was oldest (probably because he was the tallest and most mature looking, but still). And since he believed himself to be older, he thought it gave him a perfectly justified reason to boss the rest of them around.

Whatever. Fourteen wasn’t mad about it; he was close with One, just as Fourteen was with everyone else, he just didn’t enjoyed being babied was all.

Fourteen grinned. “We learned a whole lot. But…I might just know how to approach this.”

Six finally raised his head from jokingly glaring at Nineteen. “How?”

“We’ll get there eventually. Anyway, rumor has it that Cadmus has created a new clone…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter sucked lmao. Anyway,
> 
> I reread through this and the previous chapters and realized that with all the names being numbers thing, I might possibly be confusing (I know the differences between all of them, but Im the author so…) So to make life easier for you, in case you’re confused…
> 
> Number Names mentioned so far (in order):
> 
> 14-number written on a piece of paper with Matthews, contacted Five and Eight, and went to a bar with Ten (male)
> 
> 8-another number written on another murder victim, murdered two muggers with Five (male)
> 
> 5-murdered muggers with Eight (female)
> 
> 10-went to the bar with Fourteen, assumed to be somewhere around his age (female)
> 
> 1-assumed oldest (male)
> 
> 6-not oldest, but older than Fourteen and Ten (male)
> 
> 19-willing to do bartender’s job (female)
> 
> Hope that cleared some things up. If it helps, I’ll include a similar list at the end of every chapter!
> 
> And next chapter will start right where YJ picks up!
> 
> -Chris


	4. Independence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this chapter numerous times to try to fit the entire Independence Day and Fireworks episodes and them some, so I apologize for the late update. I also apologize for how crappy it is.
> 
> **So the two options I’m considering right now, on the terms of ships, is either: 1) Birdflash, Supermartian, and possibly Snaibsel or 2) Canon ships—Spitfire, Supermartian, possibly Chalant.
> 
> Please please please please either leave me a review or PM me about what you prefer. Of course, I’ve still got a while until I get to the shipping stuff. And later different characters that aren’t in canon begin interacting with each other, I’m gonna have some more options that I might ask about. But for now, that’s it.

**Washington D.C.**

**July 4**

 

To say Kid Flash was excited was an understatement. The moment he woke up in the morning, he changed into his uniform in record time and made it out the door to his uncle’s in even less time. And when it turned out Uncle Barry was still fast asleep, Wally had unceremoniously dragged the fastest man alive out of bed. Both were ready and set to leave to D.C. any minute when, _of all days_ , Captain Cold _had_ to start stealing ice! Seriously, couldn’t the universe be on his side just _once_?

Wally had woken up extra early to get to the Hall on time, but it didn’t matter at all since he and the Flash were still the last ones there. Figures.

He wouldn’t let anything deter his excitement, though. Not being late, not the crowd of people outside the Hall that debated sidekick names (Really, Flash Jr.?), not the snappier than usual Speedy. Nothing.

Except maybe the glaring obvious absence of his once best friend. 

His lips twitched, and he fought to keep a frown off his face. Only three mentors and three sidekicks walked along the trail towards the League Headquarters. Only three. 

There should have been four.

Rob would have been as excited as Wally. They would both have probably talked about it for days, make some stupid guesses or assumptions, then walked together towards the massive entrance: the first step of getting introduced to the League.

He swallowed hard, ignoring all the conversations going on around him. Only a few weeks stood between him and the anniversary. And here they all were, living life and getting to enjoy the opportunities Dick never had.

Wally missed his best friend.

He’d been getting better, obviously. The speedster wasn’t as much of a wreck as he had been nearly a year ago, and he learned to live with the constant reminders and the occasional depressed relapse. Uncle Barry had been there with him the whole time, Wally and Roy constantly found comfort in talking to one another, and Batman… 

He shook his head, Wally didn’t even want to think about what him and Batman had to do after Dick’s death.

He banished all the thoughts from his head. His best friend wasn’t here, but Wally knew Rob would want him to enjoy this. So he would.

He broke himself out of his thoughts right as he finally entered the Hall of Justice and stared up at the looming statues of the seven founding League members. If he was overwhelmed before…

“Whoa,” Wally breathed, eyes focused on the sight. He could hear the same sounds of awe from Aqualad and Speedy. “That’s so freaking cool,” he gushed.

Flash chuckled at his antics. They continued walking until they reached another entrance, a steel door that read _FOR AUTHORIZED PERSONNELE ONLY_. The door slid open in a matter of seconds, revealing Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter, and Batman waiting for them. 

Another heavy weight settled in Kid Flash’s stomach when his eyes landed on the Bat.

Not right now. Not right now. He could mope around later, just not now.

He forced himself, again, to shove his thoughts away. Instead, he focused on Martian Manhunter giving them some sort of greeting as he led them all through the hallway. They entered the library, which Wally didn’t really care about all that much. 

He took the first opportunity he had to flop down on one of chairs littering about the room, Aqualad following suit. Speedy chose to remain standing and narrowed his eyes at the Leaguers. 

From there, everything just went downhill.

Wally did the best he could to defend his uncle from Speedy’s accusations. After all, Roy had told the young speedster that his expectations for today far exceed Wally’s, with the wanting to join the League and whatnot. He expected the archer to probably be a little disappointed.

What he didn’t expect, however, was his defense of, “I thought step one was a tour of the HQ,” to be met with a response of “except the Hall isn’t the _real_ HQ,” from Speedy.

And if Flash avoiding Kid Flash’s eye contact wasn’t proof in and of itself, the exasperated glances thrown at Green Arrow gave it all away.

Then an all-out argument had broken out. An argument that ended with Speedy throwing his hat and announcing he would no longer remain as partners with Green Arrow.

Wally was just flabbergasted at this point. Did he just witness Speedy quit?

The archer ignored the wide stares focused on him and proceeded to walk towards the exit. “I guess they were right about you two,” he spat as he passed by the pair of sidekicks. Kid Flash and Aqualad jumped from their chairs and watched him leave. “You’re _not_ ready.”

And before Wally could even fully process that Speedy just _quit_ or the fact that his uncle had lied to him this whole time, an alarm brought his attention elsewhere.

Superman alerted the League of a fire at Project Cadmus, then Zatara appeared on the large screen and said something about some sorcerer blotting out the sun. The catastrophe with Speedy seemed to already have been forgotten from the heroes’ minds as they decided to assist Zatara and tell Kid Flash and Aqualad to “stay put.”

The two sidekicks argued with the League members—a useless cause. The heroes insisted on the pair staying behind, and left them still angry, confused, and hurt.

“When we’re _ready_?” Kid finally exploded when the six Leaguers left. “How are we _ever_ supposed to be ready when they treat us like—like sidekicks!” 

Aqualad only frowned. “My mentor, my king,” he murmured somberly, “I thought he trusted me.”

“Trust?” Wally scoffed, “they don’t even trust us with the basics! They got a secret HQ in _space_!” He threw his hands up. 

God, today was supposed to be _the_ day. He didn’t care about becoming a Leaguer right away—he was still only fifteen, anyway—but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to become formally _introduced_ to the League. It didn’t mean that he wanted to be _lied_ to by his uncle. Honestly, who was he going to tell about the real HQ?

The Atlantian seemed to ponder for a moment. “What else are they not telling us?”

They both shook their heads, frustrated. Maybe they should have just left with Speedy when they had the chance. 

“What is Project Cadmus?” Aqualad finally broke the terse silence, glancing down at Kid Flash.

The speedster shrugged. “Dunno, never heard of it.”

Everything seemed utterly hopeless. Now, the pair of them had to sit and twiddle their thumbs until the Leaguers would come back to probably give a lecture about why they couldn’t assist the JLA yet. And Wally always hated lectures. 

He sighed and crossed his arms. He opened his mouth, preparing to launch into another fit of complaints, when computer sounds cut him off.

The speedster nearly jumped out of his skin. He whirled around to look at the large computer Batman had been typing on only minutes ago. The machine continued to let out electrical and buzzing sounds, almost like someone was typing on it. 

“Uh, is it supposed to do that?” Kid asked.

“I do not believe so,” Aqualad retorted.

The monitor suddenly lit up. Red painted the entire screen, a message in the center—which a voice soon announced simultaneously, _“Access denied.”_ A few more sounds and seconds followed until the red turned to green and a new message appeared. _“Access granted.”_

“Okay, I’m no computer expert,” the speedster eventually found the words, “but _what_?”

Before Aqualad could reply, a report flew up on the monitor. They both exchanged glances and crept closer to the screen.

“This is Project Cadmus, is it not?” Aqualad finally asked when they both got over their shock enough to _really_ look at the report.

“Yeah, it is,” Wally said dumbstruck. “Uh, did the computer just pull this up for us?”

The Atlantian took another step closer to the computer and narrowed his eyes. “’Project Cadmus, genetics lab in D.C.,’” he read. “That is all there is.”

“Huh…” Wally hummed. “Batman said he’s suspicious of it.” A grin formed on his lips. “You know,” he said slyly, “I’m starting to think that is a sign for us to investigate.”

“Solve their case before they do,” Aqualad mumbled approvingly. A small smile began to form on his face as well, even if it was no where near as mischievous as the redhead’s. “It would be poetic justice.” The smile left as soon as it came. “But they told us to stay.”

“About the weird sun mission thing,” Wally pointed out, “but not about this.”

Aqualad quirked a brow. “Just like that, we’re a team on a mission?”

“I didn’t come for a play date, that’s for sure.”

The Atlanian finally grinned.

 

* * *

 

 

They made it inside and saved two scientists from certain doom fairly easily. They also found out that the place exuded suspicion and just overall weirdness pretty quickly, too.

Aqualad claimed to have seen something that didn’t belong in a two-story building, they found—after the Atlantian pulled the elevator doors open—that the building actually had a whole lot more floors than just two, and the two witnessed giant, almost elephant-like creatures with small, horn-bearing monkeys atop one.

They made it down deep, down multiple floors. Whenver they stopped at a door that even Aqualad couldn’t open by brute force, some invisible, mystical force somehow opened the door for them. Then it would happen again, the next time they found an entrance.

Kid would think it was weird, but after everthing he saw in the building alone, _nothing_ was weird anymore.

They found the power source of Cadmus, and fought with the (newly evil?) Guardian and whatever those creatures with him were called. When they went even _deeper_ into Cadmus (“we’re already here, Aqualad. Might as well go all the way down.”) they were attacked again by a lanky, purple-looking demon guy. Then ambushed again by the Guardian’s weird pet monkey things.

 Nothing, however, beat the strange sight of Project Kr standing in a pod in front of them.

 “Big K little R,” Wally read off the pod. “The atomic symbol for Krypton. And is that Superman’s symbol on his chest?”

“ _Now_ we contact to League,” Aqualad said behind him. For once, the speedster wasn’t protesting. This was too much, might even be too much for the League.

He twisted his ear piece on his suit, something the Flash installed to make sure Wally could contact him at all times, but all he got was static. 

“Nothing,” he frowned. “We’re in too deep. Literally.”

“Maybe we should let him free,” Aqualad said after a small moment of silence. “Do you know how?”

Kid Flash shook his head. “No, it probably has to do something with the computer though.”

He stalked back to the computer to try pushing some random buttons—they were both stuck here, might as well try something—when the screen lit up and the tube the boy was stuck in started to open. 

“Okay, _seriously_ , what keeps doing that?” the redhead squawked. “Did the machines take over overnight and I’m just not hearing about it until now?”

Aqualad looked behind Wally, eyes slightly widening. “I think we have something more dire to worry about.”

The speedster knitted his brows together and looked behind him. The Project, Kr or whatever, had left his pod successfully. 

And he looked _mad._

So mad that he kicked their asses the first chance he got. Kid Flash did the best he could, landing a few kicks and hits on the guy, until he was knocked aside. His head hit the floor, and he felt the pain begin to pulsate his skull. He grit his teeth, doing everything he could to get up and ignore his pounding head. It got easier, however, to succumb to the weightlessness that began to take him.

The last thing he saw before his vision blacked out was Kr throwing Aqualad to the other side of the room.

 

* * *

 

**Washington D.C.**

**July 5**

 

When he woke up to someone yelling at him in his mind, the first thing he saw was the Kr guy, _still_ looking angry.

“Wh-what do you want?” Wally demanded, pulling at his arms, which were restrained above his head. It appeared him and Aqualad were trapped in pods similar to what they found Kr in. Except Cadmus had clearly taken some extra measures by cuffing their arms and legs.

The speedster looked back down, the creepy project still staring at him unflinchingly. “Quit staring, you’re creeping me out.”

Still, the guy didn’t budge. Wally groaned in exasperation.

“We only sought to help you—” the Atlantian began when it became obvious that Kr wouldn’t say anything.

“Yeah,” Kid Flash agreed, “we free you, then you turn on us. How’s that for grati—”

Aqualad, in a pod to the right of Wally, shot the redhead a look. “Kid, please, be quiet now.” Kid Flash just frowned and continued to glare at the teenager on the ground. “I believe our new friend was not in full control of his actions.”

“Wh-what if…What if I wasn’t?” the guy stammered, finally looking away to train his gaze on the ground.

“He can talk?” the speedster asked incredulously. In response, the teenager tightened his knuckles and scowled at the redhead.

“Yes,” he hissed, “ _he_ can.”

The unknown teenager glared at him. Even Aqualad angled his head to the side to fire Wally a look that said _“really?”_

“What?” the speedster asked. “It’s not like I said ‘it.’”

Aqualad shot him one last glance. The Atlantian turned his head to look at the Superman knockoff again, probably preparing to ask some more questions, when the black-haired boy whirled around. 

“Who’s there?” he shouted into the shadows of the room. Kid Flash cocked an eyebrow and looked behind the teenager. No one there.

The black-haired boy began walking away steadily, as if ready to pounce someone. The speedster almost protested—he needed someway to get out and it seemed like Mr. Broody was his only option—when the sound of nimble feet hitting the floor reached his ears.

“You’re the clone I’ve heard so much about.”

 Landing a mere foot in front of the guy—wait, _clone?_ —stood a small teenager dressed in all black. Wally could barely see the kid, he blended into the shadows too well. His dark hoodie hid most of his black hair and created a shadow over his forehead. The only other discernable features the speedster could make out was the domino mask covering the kid’s eyes.

He had to be younger than Wally, probably barely even a teenager. But even if the newcomer was short, slim, and younger, Kid Flash couldn’t help but be the _teensiest_ bit intimidated.

The only other person that could blend into the dark so easily, like it was home, was Batman.

“Who are you?” the clone asked. Wally couldn’t see his face, but he guessed it was probably set in a glare and a frown.

“Relax,” the kid held out his hands, a grin on his face, “I’m not here to hurt you. Not like anyone probably can, anyway.” He looked up at the pods where Aqualad and Kid were still stored, staring at him in confusion. “You trapped them?”

“I do it to all intruders,” the clone growled in response. 

The kid’s face softened, if only minutely. “Because the genomorphs tell you to? Because _Cadmus_ tells you to?”

The clone visibly tensed, but didn’t say anything.

The newcomer took a step closer. “Do you know who you are? What you are?”

“I am the Superboy, a genomorph, a clone made from the DNA of the Superman. Created to replace him should he perish; to destroy him should he turn from the light.”

Wally’s brain just about short-circuited. First, they get kidnapped by crazy scientists, then some creepy kid appears out of nowhere, then they find out the person they found in a pod earlier is _Superman_ ’s clone.

The League was going to kill them. 

“To be like Superman is a worthy aspiration,” Aqualad commented. Superboy turned around again to face the two stuck in pods. “But like Superman you deserve a life of your own. Beyond that solar suit, beyond your pod, beyond Cadmus.”

“I live because of Cadmus!” Superboy defended. “It is my home!”

“Your home?” the kid inquired, stepping up beside the clone. “Cadmus isn’t a home. It’s a hell. You should be out there, living your life free from here. Can you honestly tell me that you’ve made actual real, happy memories here?”

Kid Flash had been skeptical of the kid since he first showed up. How did he even get here in the first place? Maybe he was _another_ clone of Superman, created to look even _younger_? Wally didn’t know, but didn’t know how the heck the kid all of a sudden appeared out of thin air.

But Superboy looked conflicted at his words, so for the time being, the speedster was grateful for the kid. Wally would get answers out of him later. 

“We can show you, introduce you, to Superman,” Aqualad offered.

Now that had to be the kicker. A look of awe finally crossed the clone’s face.

The metal doors behind Superboy slid open. “No, they can’t,” a man in a white lab coat argued, flanked by the Guardian on one side and another scientist on the other. “They’ll be otherwise occupied.”

The mysterious teenager backflipped out of the way and into the shadows before the trio could see him. Kid Flash opened his mouth to shout in outrage—the kid can’t offer to help then just _leave_ them when they need it the most—but the scientist continued before any sound could come out.

“Activate the cloning process,” he ordered the other scientist. She nodded and walked closer to the pods while him and the Guardian stopped their strides.

“ _Cloning_?” Kid sputtered.

“And get the weapon back in its pod!” the scientist snapped at Guardian.

“Hey, how come _he_ gets to call Supey an ‘it’?” Kid asked grumpily.

Guardian stepped closer to Superboy, placing a hand on his shoulder. Aqualad pleaded the clone to help, and KF’s heart almost soared when the clone shrugged off Guardian’s touch, but the scientist squashed down any hope when he used the monkey-things— _Genomorphs_ —to take full control of the clone’s mind.

Before Wally could even begin to think of possible escape routes, the female scientist typed away on the control pads. Robotic arms popped out from inside the pods and, despite all of Kid’s squirming, attached to his and Aqualad’s sides to shock them.

Kid cried out in pain, eyes sealed shut and hands balled into fists above him. He had no idea what the electrical buzzing and shocks were supposed to accomplish, all he knew was that it was hard to concentrate or think about anything than the pain encasing him.

He didn’t know how long it lasted, or what happened with Superboy and the scientists during that time. But all of a sudden it stopped and he could finally breathe.

He opened his eyes, heaving in heavy breaths, and looked down from where he was trapped in his pod. There, on the ground, stood the same, mysterious teenager; the two scientists, Guardian, and the weird purple guy from earlier knocked unconscious on the floor.

A lazy grin rested on the kid’s face. “So, do I get a thanks for not letting them fry you?”

Kid was too busy catching his breath to answer. Eventually an explosion that blew the door open caught his attention, Superboy on the other side holding the crushed metal entrance.

“Supey!” the kid grinned, “Glad you could join us.” He reached over to the control panel and pushed a button, opening the pods. “Could you help me get one of these guys out?” 

“Don’t you go giving me orders, either,” Superboy growled, but he leapt up in the air and tore the metal restraints from Aqualad’s limbs anyway. 

The kid climbed up Kid Flash’s pod, reaching the top then reaching under to mess with a cuff on Wally’s arm.

“Uh, not that I’m not grateful or anything, but who are you?” the speedster asked, eyebrow raised.

The teenager hummed, as if thinking. “Let’s just say I’m your only chance of getting out of here.” Wally didn’t have a chance to ask what that meant before all the cuffs holding the redhead down finally opened. “Now let’s go.”

All four jumped down and began sprinting out of the room—well, Wally toned down his speed so he’d be with the others—when the male scientist raised his head and began shouting. “Don’t think that you’ll get away with this! I’ll have you back in pods by morning! And _you_ —” he narrowed his eyes at the masked teenager “—I think you know _exactly_ what’s going to happen to you—”

  
“Yeah, yeah, Dr. D, I know,” the kid drawled in a bored tone. He paused at the exit to pull out three discs and threw them with scarily accurate precision, each landing just under the pods, where samples of Kid’s and Aqualad’s DNA were stored.

“C’mon,” the kid exclaimed, catching up with the rest of them, “this place is gonna blow!” 

As they sprinted off and listened to the explosion right behind them, Wally decided the kid was absolutely insane and weird, but he was thankful he was on their side.

* * *

 

They escaped the bottom floor, although the farthest they could make was sub-level fifteen. Their escape was hindered by seemingly every single genomorph in the freaking building out to get them, not to mention the scientists still after them, too. Superboy gave them directions, but since the universe was after them, it led to a dead end.

“Great directions, Supey,” Kid Flash snapped sarcastically. “Are you _trying_ to get us re-podded?”

“No. I—I don’t understand,” Superboy confessed, a confused look clouding over his face, when Aqualad and the kid caught up.

“Don’t apologize!” The kid exclaimed, a grin on his face. “This is perfect!”

“Um, _what_?” Wally asked.

The kid’s expression didn’t waver. He just pointed at the air vent.

“Oh.”

By the time they had all gotten in the vents, the genomorphs could be heard reaching the hallway they had just abandoned. The kid led the way, followed by Aqualad, then Kid Flash, then Superboy at the rear.

 “Ugh,” Kid Flash grunted. “At this rate, we’ll never get out. Don’t they have, like, cameras and stuff tracking us, too?”

“Don’t worry, I hacked the internal security cameras _way_ before we got in here,” the mystery kid said nonchalantly. “I also hacked the motion sensors, they think we’re going in a completely opposite direction.”

Stunned silence met his answer. Aqualad and Kid Flash exchanged a quick glance.

The kid snorted, making a right turn, the rest following. “What? Who do you think released Superboy? And opened all those doors for you? Did you actually think the machines took over?”

Kid Flash paused in surprise, only breaking out of his stupor when Superboy pointedly grunted behind him. “That was _you?_ Wait, did you do that thing at the Hall of Justice, too?”

The kid glanced at Aqualad and KF behind his shoulder. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His scheming little grin said otherwise.

“You little—”

“ _Shh!”_ Superboy shushed the redhead, coming to a stop, the other boys following suit. They sat in silence, the clone craning his neck back, probably using his superhearing. “They’re coming.”

They exchanged glances before resuming their crawling, this time faster.

By the time they got out successfully, the scientists at some other location searching thanks to the kid’s hacking, Kid Flash used his free space to his advantage and started taking off up the stairs.

…But, like always, that only lead to all of them being cornered by Guardian and an army of genomorphs. 

The next minutes passed in a blur. The scientist from earlier turned into a giant, blubbering monster that all four had no choice but to take on. And, even if KF didn’t want to really admit it, none of them might have made it out of there if the kid hadn’t come up with his brilliant strategy with the pillars to take the big guy down. The building had collapsed into utter ruins on top of the creature, some debris even falling on the group of four. But they made it out alive. Tired, battered, and with multiple rips in their clothes, but alive.

They all turned to each other, exhausted but smiling, and let out tired little huffs of laughter. They made it.

Superboy was the first to break eye contact, stepping away from the three still trying to catch their breaths. He trained his eyes on the moon and sky, seemingly in a trance, and it was then that Wally remembered that this was the first time the clone had _ever_ been outside.

That made the speedster smile to himself a little. They were all going to no doubt be in trouble with the League, but just seeing Superboy’s expression of awe made it all worth it.

And, of course, speaking of the League…

Each and every member found their way to the small, huddled group surrounded by ruins. And none of them looked happy in the slightest.

…okay, maybe it wasn’t actually worth it.

Kid sighed, wincing to himself. “They’re actually going to kill us, aren’t they?” He angled his head back to share a pained looked with Aqualad, when something caught his attention.

The mystery kid was gone.

Wally blinked, looking all around him. Still nothing. “Aqualad, did you see that kid leave?”

Aqualad pinched his eyebrows in confusion and glanced around as well. “…No, I was not aware that he did.” 

And judging from how Superboy was looking firmly at Superman flying closer to them, the clone hadn’t been paying attention.

Kid Flash swallowed. The universe really, _really_ hated them.

Still, as Kid Flash looked at Aqualad and Superboy, he decided that he would do it all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the general awfulness of this chapter. I wanted to include more in this, but I felt like the chapter would then be way too long, and for all the times I rewrote this chapter, this is basically the most compact I was able to make it. I learned a hell of a lot about writing out chapters that mostly follow canon, though, so hopefully I won’t have this problem again anytime soon (fingers crossed).
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please leave reviews or PM me or follow/fave!
> 
> -Chris


	5. Survivors

**Gotham City**

**July 8**

It was approaching five in the morning when Batman entered the cave, covered in sweat under the suit and footsteps heavy with exhaustion. He pushed off the cowl as he trudged deeper into the cave, slinking over towards the large computer and sitting on the chair in front of it; there was no point in resting anyway, he had to meet the League in only a few short hours to prepare Mount Justice and make sure everything was discussed _thoroughly_ before they let the teenagers form a small team of their own.

Bruce’s eyes narrowed on the screen. He’d had enough of sidekick talk lately. He had taken all the grief it gave him onto the Gotham criminals littering the streets until bruises formed on the knuckles under the protection of his gloves and the fire in his system diminished. Still, he couldn’t let himself rest—couldn’t stop for a second.

He typed on the keyboard, gaze trained on the information on the screen. For over a week now he had been looking up information on Preston Matthews and Jared Farrison, murdered on the same day only minutes apart. So far there were no correlations between the two; they both lived in Gotham and had no current jobs approximately three or four months before their murders, and that was where it ended. Both of them had lived on opposite sides of the city, had differing jobs and childhoods, and as far as Bruce knew, they had never met each other.

But they had to. Or at least had some other sort of odd correlation that somehow linked them to very similar murders.

Bruce brought up both of their case files on the screen. While Matthews had a gruesome stab wound in the neck that ended his life, Farrison had a bullet wound right through the temple. The former had been found at an alley right outside a bar, while Farrison was found in the middle of the street in a rough neighborhood on the other side of town. Their estimated time of death was about five minutes apart, so there was no way the same person killed both people. But cameras all around the areas hadn’t shown anybody around, and there were no cameras at the exact areas the bodies had been found.

Then, of course, there were the numbers. A slip of paper that read _14_ on Matthews, and another paper on Farrison that said _8._

And Bruce still had no idea what that meant.

For the past few weeks he had been focused on Matthews. He never really knew why, and now that he thought about it, there was no good reason for him to focus on him specifically. Relations to WE aside, Bruce never really actually knew him and had only seen the victim once or twice in passing. There had just been a drive that pushed him forward to investigate Matthews’ murder, as if it would answer some question he didn’t know he had. He shook his head to himself. Maybe he did need rest to clear his head.

He ignored that bit of reason and instead researched Farrison.

Farrison had lived in the rougher parts of Gotham for pretty much all his life. Lived with a mom that worked two jobs when he was a child, then grew up to become a car mechanic. Had gotten in trouble a few times as a teenager for doing drugs, but he never did any serious crimes that were on record. Like Matthews, he had quit his job a few months prior, but there was no record of him planning to leave the city. In fact, he actually bought a new apartment closer to the heart of the city…

He glanced at the address. Although it wasn’t exactly lavish, the apartment was one of the newer ones built and cost more than Farrison could ever afford with the salary he had as a mechanic. Not to mention he bought it only a month after mysteriously quitting his job…

Finally a lead. Bruce would look more into it after he dealt with the League business.

He rose from the chair and stalked over to the showers. His steps nearly stuttered, however, when his eyes fell on the small, red, black, and yellow uniform on a mannequin in the corner of the cave.

Bruce swallowed hard. Allowing himself a minute to mourn, he walked to where the uniform was displayed in a glass case. He rested his warm, sweat-damp forehead on the cool glass and pressed his hand on the barrier that inhibited him from touching where the heart under the small suit would have— _should have_ —been.

His eyes slid shut. Only sixty-one days until the date.

 

* * *

 

**Central City**

 

Superboy frowned at the city in front of him.

It had been a few hours since the group of them had gone to Happy Harbor to see where their team would operate, and where Superboy would apparently eventually live. He wasn’t really that keen on working with a team at first—in all honesty he had just wanted to prove to everyone that he could be _just_ as heroic as Superman, but so far the only ones that even took him seriously were his future teammates. But after staying at Wally’s for the past few days and talking with Kaldur and Miss Martian, the idea of a team was slowly warming up to him.

Batman had said something about some last minute adjustments that needed to be done in the cave, so that meant Superboy had to stay with Wally for a few more days. The second they got back to his house after meeting in the cave, the redhead said something about Superboy “needing hero experience” then changed into his Kid Flash uniform in mere seconds. The two had then met Wally’s mentor, Flash, only a small time after that, and they all set out for a patrol of the city when the last rays from the sun bled into night.

Currently, him and Kid Flash were casually walking down the street together while Flash was patrolling another area of Central. Superboy didn’t say much as the two walked along the roads, but the speedster talked enough for the both of them.

“…and we’re gonna go on actual missions!” the redhead threw his hands up and laughed with joy, “Hopefully, I mean. I wouldn’t put it past the League to baby us longer, but we’ll just do another reckless mission on our own then! It’ll be so fun! Oh, and did you _see_ Miss Martian? A total babe, amiright? And she _totally_ loves the Wallman! _Wait_ —crap—uh, Kid-man—no, look let’s just pretend I didn’t just almost give away my ID while in costume. Oh my god, I should talk quieter, shouldn’t I?”

Superboy just continued to stare at him as they walked through the streets. Kid Flash shrugged apologetically and then started talking about Black Canary training them or something. Superboy had just begun to tune the speedster out when his superhearing picked up on something.

_“Psst, Supey,”_ a voice whispered, faint and distant enough that no one else would have been able to hear it. He paused, blinking and furrowing his eyebrows together as he angled his head to the left, where the voice had came from. A street lined with varying sized buildings met his stare with no person in sight, but he _knew_ the voice came from there.

And it was familiar…a voice he had definitely heard before, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Superboy?” Kid Flash asked when he finally noticed that the clone had stopped walking and stared at the street perpendicular to them. “Did you see something?”

The Kryptonian took a second to come up with an answer. “No.” Not a lie. He _heard_ , not saw. “I just, uh, I was wondering. Do you and Flash normally split up when you patrol?”

Kid Flash shrugged. “Eh, just depends. When the Rogues are out on the streets we normally stick together. But they’re all locked up at the moment and Flash thinks we can cover more ground if we split. Besides, if one of us needs help we’re there in a flash.” He grew an amused grin at the pun he said, but Superboy just ignored it.

“So then we would cover more ground, right? If we split.” Superboy didn’t care if it sounded like he just wanted to get away from Wally. He _really_ wanted to know who said his name.

But the speedster just grinned wider and nodded approvingly. “Alright Supey, already thinkin’ like a hero.” He patted the clone’s back, which was met with a warning glare. Kid took a step back and laughed nervously. “Uh, anyway! So I take this way—” he motioned to the street they were walking down “—and, uh, I’m guessing you wanna take this one?” He gestured to the street Superboy had been staring at only seconds ago.

Superboy nodded. “Sure.” With that, Kid Flash waved bye to the clone before taking off down his street. As soon as he was out of sight, Superboy walked towards where he had heard the voice. He continued on the path, passing several blocks on the way. He was just about to lose his patience and call out for the person to show himself when a small, hooded and masked head popped out from the corner of a building.

The clone recognized the person as soon as they made eye contact. The voice finally clicked in his mind as he took the final steps towards the kid.

The boy that had helped get him, Kid Flash, and Aqualad out of Cadmus.

They had told the League of the mystery kid a little after the heroes had started to hound them for answers. Kid Flash was the one who brought up the masked teenager, going on and on about how the kid apparently hacked the Justice League and then hacked into the security at Cadmus. The Leaguers had looked surprised at that and said they would look into it, but he hadn’t heard if they had learned anything about the kid or not. Apparently he was considered “League priority.” And quite frankly, Superboy hadn’t really cared much. The kid helped get them out and that made him okay in the clone’s book.

He hadn’t expected to see the kid so soon, though. Or at all. Especially in Central City after Wally had dragged Superboy out to be “heroic.”

“Supey! Long time no see!” the teenager grinned. “I’m glad you got my message."

“How did you know I was here?” the clone demanded as a greeting. It looked like the kid didn’t really take it personally, though, if his smug grin indicated anything.

“That’s not important,” he answered flippantly, “I just wanna know how you’re holding up.”

Superboy blinked at that. “What? Why?”

The teenager smiled somberly, leaning against the brick wall of the store they were standing next to. It was the only time the taller had seen the mystery boy look anything other than smug and mischievous. “Cadmus—I was stuck there too, once.”

_That_ made the clone raise his eyebrows. The genomorphes had never gave him any information about other projects and experiments going on in Cadmus. “You—you were? Are you a clone, too?”

A bitter laugh flew past the kid’s lips. “I don’t think so, but who knows these days,” he grumbled that last part more to himself. A second passed in what seemed like contemplation before he snapped himself out of whatever trance he was in, straightening up from his slouched position on the wall. “But how are you holding up?”

Superboy shrugged. “Uh, okay, I guess. Better than being stuck in a pod.”

The kid snorted. “I bet.” He looked towards where Superboy came from, as if making sure they were both still alone. “And you’re okay with your situation right now? Being friends with the sidekick squad?”

“ _Don’t_ call us—”

“Okay, okay! Jesus. Still, are you happy with them?”

Superboy considered it for a moment. He didn’t consider himself close with any of his future teammates yet, but…he liked them enough. He truly believed they could all work together on whatever missions the League would send them on. “Yes.”

A genuine smile bloomed on the masked teenager’s face. “Good, that’s all I wanted to hear.” He nodded at the alleyway adjacent to them. “I have to get going, but it was nice seeing you, Supey.” He gave a simple, two-fingered wave to the clone and turned towards the alley. He only took a few steps in until Superboy finally got over his initial surprise and called out to him.

“Hey, wait!” The smaller teen paused in his steps and angled his head back at the sound. Superboy jogged over to the kid, stopping when he was only a few feet behind. “The League will be looking for you.”

The other just snorted amusedly. “I’m not worried about the Justice League, but thanks for the info.”

The clone frowned but decided to leave it at that. Sure, the League would probably look for the young teenager, but it seemed like he could hide from them easily enough. Besides, they didn’t even know that he hacked their systems until Kid Flash told them.

“Don’t worry, SB,” the kid continued, “I doubt this is the last time we’ll see each other."

Before he could continue walking again, Superboy spoke up again. “I don’t remember the Genomorphs ever mentioning another Cadmus project.”

The shortest shrugged. “My situation was…different, to say the least. I escaped quite some time ago, and I’m sure Cadmus didn’t want to talk about their failures. But that’s a long story, one that I don’t really feel like telling.” He nodded and stuffed both his hands in his hoodie’s pockets. “But I’ll see you around, okay, Supey?"

“I don’t know you’re name,” the clone said abruptly. He didn’t even know other Cadmus experiments existed, let alone others that had escaped long before he had. He wanted to know as much about the mysterious kid’s past with Cadmus as possible, if the smaller had gone through the same brainwashing he had. 

The masked teenager grinned. “You can call me Fourteen.” With that, he descended deeper into the alley without waiting for Superboy to reply. He kept walking until he fell into the darkness of the shadows, leaving the clone behind with far too many questions than answers.

He continued to stand there, listening to the small pattering of feet slowly becoming more and more distant. He could have stood there and waited longer, but the sound of skidding fast approaching forced Superboy to turn around to find the source. In a blink of an eye, Kid Flash stopped right in front of the clone, a cocky smile on his lips and a giddy look in his eyes. 

“Dude! You should have been there! A bunch of ATM at a bank started spitting out _money_! It was so cool! I didn’t steal any, of course, but woah! And no one was even there. I told the Flash, he’s at the scene, so c’mon! You have to check it out before the cops come!”

Something told Superboy that the event lined up a _little_ too closely with his secret meeting with the teenager—Fourteen. The thought only made the tips of his lips raise the slightest bit as he shrugged to the speedster. “Cool, lead the way.”

Kid Flash nodded vigorously and started to jog down the road, slowing down so his teammate could keep up. “So, did anything interesting happen with you?”

Superboy thought back to the conversation he had less than a minute ago. It was important, and probably something the League would want to know, but he couldn’t find it in himself to talk about the encounter. It felt like it should be kept a secret—two Cadmus survivors talking privately about their experiences. And, in all honesty, the League was still pissing him off. Why tell them things when they never bothered to update him and his teammates?

So the clone just shook his head. “No, not really.”

 

* * *

 

**Unknown Location**

**July 11**

 

Seven documents were laid out on the table for everyone to see. Each looked different from the last, but they all had the same theme: a murder victim, all killed on the same day and the same time frame. On the top, right corner of each picture, a different number was written. 

_1 5 6 8 10 14 19._

“It seems they’re out of hiding,” he mused, eyebrows raising as he studied the pictures, “and ready for a fight, too, it seems.”

The other man chuckled under his breath and folded his arms. “What a shame that they’re still running wild. And with the Justice League out sending their own pet projects, tch.” 

“Project Seven rebels for now, but given time, they’ll be under our control again. After all, everyone always sees the Light.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is incredibly short lmao, especially after the monstrosity called chapter four. But this, for me, ends the “introduction of plot” part of the story. I intend move forward with lots more action from here on out, which will hopefully mean that the chapters will be longer too.
> 
> So when I first started writing this, I intended for Dick’s death anniversary to be only about a month after Independence Day, but for plot reasons, I’ve pushed the date back (as shown with Bruce’s mourning scene). I’ll probably go back and edit the first few chapters to accommodate.
> 
> Also, I’d like to thank everyone who responded to my questions about shipping! I definitely have a clearer idea for what I intend to do now. 
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> Chris


	6. Nostalgia

**Jump City**

**July 9**

“You’re doing it again.”

Fourteen blinked. He turned his attention away from the city’s skyline, looking back to see Eight standing at the doorway. “Doing what?”

The younger snorted and walked towards Fourteen. He plopped down besides the elder of the two, dangling his legs off of the building’s edge without care. “Y’know, moping around. Although I’m surprised Ten isn’t out here doing some weird voodoo with you.”

Fourteen rolled his eyes, playfully pushing Eight’s shoulder. The younger scoffed and pushed him back. “First of all, Ten _meditates_ —it has nothing to do with voodoo—and second, I’m not moping, I’m _thinking_. And I’m tired, I’ve been using too much energy lately.”

“Then what’re you thinking about?” Eight asked.

The oldest hummed to himself and trained his gaze back to the sky. The warehouse they had secured as their base was on the edge of town, close to the beach, and many of them would climb over to the roof and sit for hours to unwind. It was one of Fourteen’s favorite places, with a light breeze that always smelled like palm trees and salt-water touching his skin and soothing away any stresses he had. Almost the whole city was on display at this very spot, and there was something therapeutic about watching the city go through the day normally. He probably came up here the most, but Ten was a close second with all the time she spent here to meditate in peace—and maybe Five at third, although as the youngest, everyone else made sure to keep an eye on her at all times.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. A lot of things.”

A second of silence passed. Eight’s legs stopped swinging for a beat, and Fourteen could almost hear the younger thinking in that moment. He started swinging his legs again as soon as he stopped. “Is it about Project Kr?”

Fourteen shook his head. “Nah. Superboy’s his own person. I’m totally whelmed with his decision to stay with the sidekicks.” He looked at Eight, only to see his eyebrows scrunched.

“Dude, _whelmed_? What the hell does that mean?”

 “Whelmed. Like, not overwhelmed or underwhelmed, you know?”

Eight snorted. “Okay, sure, whatever. What else is it then? Is it the sidekicks? One already has a stick up his ass about it.”

“Where have you been learning all these bad words?” Fourteen asked jokingly, a sly grin on his lips. “Aren’t you a little too young to be saying those things?”

The youngest glared up at him. “I hate you.”

Fourteen smiled sickeningly sweet. “Aww, no you don’t.” He laughed as he dodged a punch sent his way. “ _Geez_ , calm down, E.” The two ended up swatting and playfully pushing at each other for a few minutes, until eventually the irritated spark in Eight’s eyes faded into a playful fire. They continued until Eight crossed his arms over his chest and looked back over the city, Fourteen following suit.

 “…so it is the sidekicks, then?” Eight eventually asked.

Fourteen raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been getting too observant.”

“It’s a side effect of being stuck with you.”

 The oldest huffed a laugh. “Yeah…I guess it is. But it’s nothing, really.”

 “What,” Eight asked, “You think they’re gonna blow this for us?” 

No. The sidekicks were competent enough when Fourteen teamed up with them to help Superboy escape, but Aqualad and Kid Flash hadn’t even questioned why everything around them was getting hacked into until Fourteen had flat out told them he had been the one behind it. They were smart to an extent, and he had no doubt that the Justice League would induct more members into whatever new team they formed to help balance out brawns and brains. The group might bud their heads into his business a few times if they ever crossed paths again, but Fourteen knew he could dance around them easily if he needed to.

But there was something almost…familiar about helping them escape from Cadmus. He had gotten used to working with a group, he fought along with his friends all the time, but there was something bordering on nostalgia when he worked with the sidekicks. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Something he didn’t know the others would understand. Something _he_ himself didn’t understand.

Fourteen hummed in thought. “Maybe.” He angled his head down to look at Eight. “But we’ll take care of them. I always have tricks up my sleeve.”

The youngest crossed his legs, quirking his lips to the side. “That’s true. C’mon, let’s go inside. You can stress about the junior heroes later, we’ve got other things to worry about right now.”

 “Yeah, yeah. When did you get so bossy?"

Eight glared at Fourteen. The younger rose from the floor and turned towards the roof’s entrance. “You coming or what?”

Fourteen teasingly sighed and followed Eight’s movements. He shook off all the thoughts about the junior heroes and the time he teamed up with them. He had more important things to worry about, and the heroes would only get in his way.

 

* * *

 

 

**Watchtower**

**July 10**

Superman set his lips in a firm line. “No.”

Black Canary heaved a sigh, crossing her arms over her chest. “Superman,” she began again, slowly, “I know it’s…uncomfortable—and a little unorthodox, to keep Superboy around, but he didn’t do _anything_ wrong. And he needs a mentor to help him with his abilities.”

The Man of Steel frowned stubbornly. They had been at this for hours, different members of the League trying to convince Superman to even _talk_ to the new clone, but the hero wouldn’t listen to reason. Even Zatara and Martian Manhunter tried to talk sense into the Kryptonian to no avail. At this point, Canary was seriously considering locking Superman in a room with kryptonite until he caved in to go talk to Superboy.

The clone had just officially moved into the cave earlier that day with Miss Martian, and one of the first things Superboy did after Canary dropped by was ask her about Superman. Despite how the clone only having seen the Man of Steel once, it was evident that Superboy knew he was being avoided, if the angry yet downcast expression on his face was anything to go by. Dinah had then told herself that she would pound some sense into Superman if it was the last thing she did. 

Unfortunately, he had a stubborn streak that almost— _almost_ rivaled Batman’s. Superman had only repeatedly said that Superboy wasn’t his responsibility, and that the clone would do perfectly fine without him.

“Look, we’ve been on this for too long, we need to move on to the next subject,” Superman said tightly. He moved his gaze over to the Dark Knight, who watched the exchange silently from the other side of the table. “Batman, what do you have?”

Batman stayed silent for a few moments, white lenses boring into the Man of Steel. His mouth twitched, and Canary almost thought that Batman was going to snap at Superman for addressing him harshly or being a jerk in general, but he remained sitting stoic. Only after the Man of Steel squirmed uncomfortably in his chair did the Dark Knight move on.

He waved his hand up for the holographic screen to display in the center of the table and typed away on a keyboard the lit up right in front of him. “I’ve been looking into the hacker Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Superboy informed us about.” On the screen, an imagine taken from the Cadmus security footage showed Kid Flash and Aqualad stuck in pods, Superboy on the the ground, and all three of them staring at the mystery hacker. The imagine only showed the kid’s back, with the hood from his jacket thrown over his head to prevent even his _hair_ to be shown on camera. Batman pushed a button on the keyboard, and suddenly the image turned into a video that showed the sidekicks and clone talking to the hacker. The video had no audio, but they all watched as scientists entered the room and the kid back flipped out of the frame. “This is all the footage I’ve been able to secure of him. Everything after this cuts off.”

Wonder Woman tilted her head at the screen. “He is small, he can’t be any older than Kid Flash.”

“Sure, he’s small,” Flash injected, “but he’s smart enough to apparently hack into not only Cadmus, but our _own_ systems. Batman, have you figured out how the kid did that?”

The Dark Knight resumed typing. A new image popped up on the screen, this time a jumble of computer codes that probably only Batman understood displayed. “The hacker infected a section of our system with a Trojan Horse and he was able to gain backdoor access. I found the issue and reprogrammed the system accordingly, the hacker should now be sufficiently cleared from all systems.”

“Do you have any idea what information he accessed?” Black Canary asked.

“He might have been good at hacking into our system, but it’s easy to leave fingerprints behind if you don’t know how it works. There’s evidence that he looked at our information on Cadmus, and he looked into some current missions the League had been working on, but I reprogrammed everything before he could look farther.”

“Well…” Green Arrow said, “that’s good, I guess. What section of the system did he even infect?”

 Batman angled his head to the archer, his stare blank yet somehow threatening. “Queen Estate in Star City.”

Black Canary blinked, and she knew without even looking that Oliver probably had the same expression as she did on his face. The entirety of the League stared down the archer, who stared blankly at Batman, lips parted, as if he was waiting for Batman to say he was joking.

(Which they all knew wasn’t coming. Batman never jokes. Especially about something like this.) 

_“What?”_ GA eventually breathed out. “Into the computer I have at my house? How the hell did the kid even—”

 Batman held up a hand. Green Arrow was sufficiently silenced. “The first time the new presence was introduced was the first of this month. That night, you were—”

“Here,” the Star City hero finished, realization blossoming on his face. “I was here, first for the meeting, and then for monitor duty.”

“And Speedy?” Batman pressed. The whole League had basically avoided bringing up the now ex-sidekick around Green Arrow after the whole Independence Day fiasco. They knew it would only bring his spirit down, and well, only Black Canary herself knew about the drama that had now been going on with them since that day. But now, all feelings aside, they needed to get to the bottom of this hacker situation. “Was he not home? The hacker had to of broken in to your house to infect your computer.”

 “Speedy had gone out on patrol with Kid Flash,” Green Arrow answered, for once looking more confused about the situation than sad about Roy. He looked over at Flash, who had the same look on his face. “They were both dealing with a murder situation in the city. They were out until about one in the morning.”

 “Then that gave the hacker plenty of time to break into your house.”

“But…my security is top notch, it should have alerted me the minute anyone tries to break in—” 

“This is someone who hacked the _Justice League_ , GA,” Hal Jordan spoke up, “your security is probably easy to break into compared to that.” 

Green Arrow still looked baffled—and Black Canary couldn’t blame him. She knew as soon as this meeting was over, he was going to drag her back to Queen Estate and look over his security footage over and over again until he found something off. “But you all _know_ I had upgraded it…a _lot._ ”

Hal rolled his eyes. “Your security. Justice League. There’s a big difference.”

“I recommend you go over your security footage,” Batman finally spoke up again, his attention on the archer. “Since it has since become a problem, I will make a stop by sometime this week to strengthen your firewalls and rid any bugs. But now that the hacker has been flushed out, he knows we’ve found his presence in our system—it’s highly doubtful he’ll attempt to break into your Estate now that we are aware he has before.”

Green Arrow didn’t answer, only slumped back in his chair in defeat, falling into a contemplative silence.

“Are we sure this _kid_ did it?” Flash finally asked. “I mean, he was at Cadmus, but why would a kid have any interest in Cadmus in the first place? I say he’s working for someone, and the boss is silently pulling the strings.”

Batman nodded. “It’s possible. So are a million other things, but your nephew said that when his and Aqualad’s DNA was being extracted, the hacker had somehow knocked out the scientists. And we saw the footage of his backflip. And he assisted with the fight against Blockbuster. He has been trained, the only question is who did and for what purpose.”

Superman hummed thoughtfully. “There’s no footage of the fight against Blockbuster?” 

“The footage I showed is the only footage I could render. The hacker had cut off the rest with explosives to many of Cadmus’ main power sources.”

The entire League—excluding Batman and Martian Manhunter—slid back in the chairs in bafflement. This kid was smart, too smart…and they all had no idea who he was.

“And there’s no clue about who this hacker might be?” Black Canary asked. “Do we know anyone who could do this?”

Something— _something_ —flashed across Batman’s face in less than a second, but it was gone before she could identify what it was. “No.”

They all sat in silence for several seconds. It looked like they had a new person to add to their wanted list. 

* * *

 

**Jump City**

**July 12**

Nineteen strolled silently down the alley, hood pulled up over her hair. It was well passed midnight now, with only drunks and criminals out in this side of town. No one had even glanced at her twice walking down the street in her dark attire.

She continued until she reached a dead end, almost wholly encased in shadows. The stench of alcohol and rotting trash filled the air, causing her to scrunch up her nose, but she remained firmly rooted in her spot.

“I know you’re there,” she called out into the night.

The answer she got was a chuckle. Out of the shadows stepped out a hulking mass of a man, head shaved completely and multiple tattoos of vines and snakes poking out from under his black shirt. He nodded in greeting, eyes raking her from head to toe.

In turn, she pushed off the hood and smiled mischievously. “I was told you had a job for me.” 

“Yes, I did tell you’re two little friends that at the bar,” he answered. “But I believe there might have to be more than one person for this.”

Nineteen cocked her head curiously to the side. “And why is that?”

“It’s a hard job. You and your friends will be compensated handsomely in return. Now tell me, have you ever been to Santa Prisca?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, this chapter is hella boring…but I had a lot of fun writing it. The plot is finally moving, guys!
> 
> …slowly, but it’s moving!
> 
> I tried to throw in a few hints for who some of Project 7 could be, but more will be revealed later. I like to throw in all the information slowly, but soon enough it will be obvious who each person is.
> 
> I feel like we haven’t had much of a chance to see into Fourteen’s personality, and even though he has now obviously gone through some shit and changed drastically, I wanted to show he didn’t undergo a complete 180 change. That was kind of the point of the beginning of this chapter.
> 
> I just recently started college classes, and I have no idea how busy I’ll be in the near future, which is why I tried to update this now. I’m hoping that I can upload a new chapter by the time October rolls around, but no guarantee.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t know what the fuck a Trojan Horse is. I’m not a computer science major. I read online that hackers can gain backdoor access using them, so I just kind of went with it. If any of you here are more familiar with them, please enlighten me.
> 
> Please leave a review or follow/favorite! It kind of motivates me to update…
> 
> -Chris


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